ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Broadcasting and Information Attaullah Tarar on Friday blamed the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for facilitating terrorists, describing its approach to maintain law and order as ‘evasive Addre sing a presser, the minister stressed that 2,456 terror attacks had taken place in KP so far this year an average of around 10 a day. He said 472 police, army, Rangers and FC personnel had been martyred and more than 1,500 people injured.
Yet the KP government not only avoided taking steps to maintain law and order across the province, but also provided ‘full facilitation’ to terrorists, Mr Tarar alleged.
The reason the KP government did not want to improve the law and order situation was to maintain a ‘political-terror-crime nexus’ and facilitate illegal trade and mining activities through which terrorists were funded, he alleged.
‘A provincial government which doesn’t want to stop terrorism and fix law and order, and countless citizens lose their lives this cannot be justified in any part of the world,’ he said.
Referring to attacks on political leaders, Mr Tarar said, ‘In one way or another, terrorists have attacked all political parties in KP. But the PTI is held in high regard by terrorists. And not only do they [PTI] avoid condemning terrorists, but they also refrain from taking any sort of action against them. Facilitating terrorists is part of PTPs policy.
Calling the PTI-led governmenttheTTP’s’B-team’ and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan’s (TTA) ‘C-team’, he accused the party of facilitating the TTP while also ‘representing’ the TTA.
The federal minister also rebuked KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, saying he looked less like a chief minister and ‘more like a TTP commander, in both his words and actions’. ‘When drones are fired at Kohat from Afghanistan, and the Pakistan Army and Air Force very skilfully take them down, you will not see any sort of condemnation or statement from the KP government,’ Mr Tarar reasoned.
The federal minister said, ‘When there is firing from Afghanistan in Kurram ... you will never see them [the PTI-led KP government] go to Kurram and say, ‘We have come here, we stand with our forces, and we will not tolerate such firing under any circumstances’.
He termed this a sign of cowardice on part of CM Afridi, his cabinet and the entire KP government, adding that this was also the reason they were ‘running away’ from protests.
He said they ‘are not even prepared. Pye just come from KP. They have not made any preparations. Come and protest, if you have the courage.
Earlier, in a statement on X, the minister dared PTIsupporters toproceed with their planned Islamabad march, saying: ‘Himmat hai to aao, long march karo.’-Syed Irfan Raza